Method of making projectiles



y 23, 1944- w.. s. REYNOLDS 2,349,677

METHOD OF MAKING PROJECTILES Fi'led Oct. 31, 1939 Ihwentor:

WALDO 5. IQE'YIVOLDS,

Cittorneg.

Patented May 23, 1944 UNITED STATES METHOD OF MAKING PROJECTILES Waldo S. Reynolds-mos Angeles, GalifQassignor to' IratLI. :McCullough; Los. Angeles, Calif.

Application. October 31, 1.939, .Serial No. 202,160

My invention: relates to amethod and:-app,aratus for making a projectile havirlgrprincipallutility in a well casing perforating gun. {This-application is a continuation-impart of mycopending applicatin,=Serial No. 1-95,759,';filed March 14, 1938, now Patent No. .2,257;276, granted; S ep-' tember. 30, 1941, for Perforating gunlandzprojectile therefor.

Well casings arezbeings. perforated soasvto; provide entrance openings ;by,;-.projectiles .fired .irom a gun which isloweredinto a ;-well to; a desired position by .use. of .a suitablegsllspenfiion means such as a steelcable. Tor.assurercomplete perfioration under all conditions; of fineration it is. mecessary that the projectile 'be -.propelled-.at 'gh velocity. .The projectile made imaccordanceiwith the invention herein .disclosed 91S provided with a' radiallyrextending 1.001131: which-,.,seryesnscveral valuable purposes, zamong whicheissthex restraining ofthe projectile; from ;mo.vement:,unt,il an ex tremely high pressure) is builtzup, on .the powder chamber whereuponthe collar,:isushearedeanduthe projectile is suddenly released and -propelled; at high velocity.

1 It is "an object of -the invention ;to rprovidew a simple method and a. simple; apparatus {whereby aprojectile may 1 be .readilyzma-de :l-raving;=a:collar preferablyoatsits inner: e d). Which-@ 31: is ,ma e as aspart. ;separate: from. the iiproiectile f bQqye' a n is: securely fixed in operative position cntthegproe =.jectile.:body.

.Itds ta .further oloject :of-. thainvention: to-s rovide :agmethod .of makingaa .-pr.9jectl1e .wherein the projectile body is; providede withla radiallve ;tending-.,collar and wherein ;a.- su-itable layer .-of V,

relatively. soft seal-.iormingjmaterial, isapplied to the projectile so; as to cover. at: leastucnetface. of

:the collar. in a manner to. he .engaseiand deformed by a supporting wall in ,-.,the,,per;forator gun with which the projectile,.is..used,.thereby.

positively sealing the inner .end .oflthe glln' barrel against leakage of waterinto. thelp wder chamber.

It is a further object of theinventiomto providea method of makinga projectile' wherein the projectile body is provided "with a radially extending collar and a layer of yieldable "seal forming'materialis applied;- tothe' inner end portion ofthe-projectile-in-a position to cover at least'the front a'nd-rear faces'of theecoHar and "the -portion= of the projectile :bodw-adjacenttthe -frontor outer face of the collar.

"A further object of theinventionistmprovide a method ofmaking aprojectile whereintarprojectile bodyis: providedwitha "grooverpreferably ..,l0 in-g .a'paireof cooperatingparts, one of which has means for holding the projectile bodyand the inner edge of the dished plate in cooperativeposition, .and-the otherof the parts has .an opening :tO receive the projectile body. and also a wall or .15 -.shouldertoengage a side portion ,of the washer so as to flatten the same, thereby causing the inneredge of the washer to enter the groove of ,the projectile body.

Further objectsand advantages of the inven- .20 tion will be brought outin the following part of the specification.

Referring to thedrawing which is for illus- .trative purposes only:

.Fig. 1 is.-a vcrossesectionshowing a projectile, according tomy invention, in operative position ;-in .thebarrel bore of,a .well casin perforatin vgun. i

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevational view of a projectile body.

-30 :Eig. .3 is an enlarged cross-section showing a dishe dwwasherrwhich is to .be secured on the pro- ;jectilgbody of:Fig..2 in the manner to form a collar.

Fig. .4; isvasectional view showing. the projectile .body and dished washer ,in .position in a .device ;for.v applying the plate to thebody. Fig. 5.is apartlv sectioned view of a projectile :after. the washer has been secured on the body.

-Fig. .6 is an enlarged partly sectioned eleva- 40 tion showing the finishedprojectile.

=In Fig.,1..I :showa projectile 20in operative position in anperforator gunil. The projectile r20, -as shown;in Fig.6, has .a cylindrical body. 22 which-maybe provided with apoint 22a at its jrontend. On the rearward or. inner portions of the projectilerbody 22 there is a radially extend- .inggcollar 23 having.layers 24 and.25 of yieldable ;seal;'iorming1materia1' on the outer and inner faces ;thereof. The layers Hand 25 are preferably integralparts of a continuous layer 26, extending fl'omacircurnferential line a on the projectilebody'lz, overthe exposed surfaces of the collar 23,.and insome instances over the inner -;extremity. 21 ,ofthe projectile .body 22. This layer: of.-iy eldabler-material Z5 is preferably lead or similar fusible, metallic substance affixed to the projectile as shown by fusion.

Referring again to Fig. 1, the perforator gun has a threaded opening 28 with a shoulder 29 at its inner end and a powder chamber 30 leading rearward or leftward from the shoulder 29. A gun barrel 3| is externally threaded so that it may be screwed into the Opening 28, this barrel having a bore 32 and a rear end face 33 which lies in spaced relationto the shoulder 29 when the barrel 3| is in operative position. The body 22 of the projectile 2|) lies in the inner end of the bore 32 and the collar 23 projects outward between the shoulder 29 and the rear end "face 33 of the barrel 3|, so as to be tightly clamped face 53 of the base 45 in a position around the groove 42. Downward movement of the head 46 will force the dished plate 23' down against the face 53, thereby flattening the dished plate 23' and causing the inner edge 44 thereof to enter the groove 42, as shown in Fig. 5, thereby securing on the body 22 a radially projecting plate 23. The head 46 has at its lower end, in a position around the face 52, an inwardly faced shoulder 55 which limits the expansion of the peripheral portion of the dished plate 23 as the same is flat- Itened, thereby assuring that the inner edge 44 between the shoulder and the face 33 when the. 3 barrel 3| is screwed into position. As the result v of pressure applied by the screwing of the barrel 3| into place, the shoulder 29 presses into the layer 25 of yieldable material, thereby forming a tight seal around the front end of the powder chamber 3|. It will be noted that the layer of sealing material extends across and/or into the joint 34 between the projectile body 22 and the collar 23 so that there can be no leakage of fluid at this joint into the powder chamber. As shown in Fig. 6, the inner portion of the layer 24 extends across the joint 34 and formsa fillet 35 in the comer between the outer face of the collar 23 and the surface of the projectile body 22 lying adjacent thereto. As shown in Fig. 1, this fillet 35 enters into a flared space 36 formed at the inner end of the bore 32, the result being that when the barrel 3| is screwed tightly into position, the material entering into the fillet 35 will be forced tightly down into the joint 34 so that the maintenance of a perfect seal is assured.

The powder chamber 30 receives a'charge of powder 38 which is fired by a flame which is conveyed through an ignition passage 39 from a flame passage 40 in the bodyof the perforating gun 2|. As this powder burns the pressure builds up in the chamber 30 until the shearing strength of the collar 23 is exceeded, with the result that the collar is sheared off substantially even with the outer face of the projectile body and the projectile is propelled at high velocity through the bore 32. I

In the making of the projectile 2D, the body 22 is formed with a groove 42 at its inner end, as shown in Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 3, an annular dished washer 23' is formed, this washer having an opening 43 of such diameter that it maybe passed over the projectile body 22 to a-position wherein the inner edge 44 of the washer 23 will coincide with the groove 42. The dished washer 23 may be formed by stamping out a flat washer from sheet metal, as indicated by dotted lines 45 in Fig. 3, and the washer 45' may be stamped to dished shape as shown in full lines. The projectile body 22 and the dished 'washer 23' are placed in the device shown in Fig. 4, which device comprises a pair of cooperating'parts 45 and 46. The part 45 may comprise a base having therein a recess 41 to receive the short cylindrical portion 48 of the body 22 which projects below the lower edge of the groove 42. The part 45 may comprise a traveling head guided by engagement at 49, with a wall 50 which projects upward from the base 45. This head 46 has an opening 5| to receive the projectile bod 22 and has a lower face 52 which will engage the upper side of the dished washer 23' which-is placed around the projectile body in such position that the inner edge 44 thereof will rest against the thereof will be fully contracted in the groove 42.

" A plunger 56, having a conical socket 51 in its lowerend. to receive the point of the projectile body 22, is placed in the opening 5| and serves as a means for ejecting the projectile from the head 46 after the securing of the collar 23 on the projectile body 22.

The layer 26 of seal forming material i then applied. This is preferably accomplished in the following manner. The inner portion of the projec'tile, that is, that portion having the colla 23 thereon, is first dipped in a soldering compound, after which the inner portion of the projectile is immersed in a bath of hot metal of solder like characteristics, for example, lead, zinc, tin, or other deformable gasket forming alloy. The projectile' is preferably lowered into the body of melted metal to such position that the circumferential line a will be substantially even with the surface of the molten metal, the result being that there is applied to the inner end of the projectile a layer of gasket forming material which coats the inner and outer surfaces of the collar 23 and also'adheres to the portion of the projectile body adjacent the outer face of the collar 23, the portion of the applied metal which adheres to the body 22 being tapered and forming the fillet 35-. The bottom wall of the groove 42 is preferably:flared in forward direction so that it will enlarge forwardly with-respect to the direction of travel of the projectile. The inner edge 44 of the collar 23 is flared in a corresponding mannerto m'atchthe shape of the groove 42. The purpose of "forminglthese cooperating parts in this manner -is so that whengas pressure is applied to that portion of the collar 23 left in the groove when the collar 23- is sheared,- such forward .gas pressure will tend to move the ring of metal forward in the groove so that the same will be expanded by the flaring bottom wall of the groove 42 into tight engagement with the barrel 3|. The inner end 48-of the projectile body 22 projects a short distanceinto thepowder chamber 30, thereby adding to the distance the projectile 22 maytravel in the gun barrel 32, before clearing the end of same and thereby increase the velocity of the projectile.

I claim as my invention:

1. A method of making a projectile'of the character described having a collar spaced from its inner end, comprising: forming a projectile body with an annular groove in its circumferential face; forming a dished washer having. an

opening of such size thatsaid washer may be placed on said body with its opening coinciding with said groove; flattening said dished washer so as-to contract the annular portion thereofsurrounding said opening into said groove, whereby said washer will be secured in said groove and form a collar projecting from said projectile body; and. fusing layers of relatively soft metal on the inner end of said projectile sothat the same will cover the frontand rear faces of said collar and the portion of said body adjacent the front face of said collar.

2. A method of making a projectile of the character described having a collar spaced from its inner end, comprising:. forming a projectile body with an annular groove in its circumferential face; forming a dished washer having an opening of such size that said washer may be placed on said body with its opening coinciding with said groove; flattening said dished washer so as to contract the annular portion thereof surrounding said opening into said groove, whereby said washer will be secured in said groove and form a collar projecting from said projectile body; and fusing a layer of relatively soft metal on at least one face of said collar so as to cover the joint formed between said collar and said body.

3. A method of making a projectile of the character described having a collar spaced from its inner end, comprising: forming a projectile body with an annular groove in its circumferential face; forming a dished washer having an opening of such size thatsaid washer may be placed on said body with its opening coinciding with said groove; flattening said dished washer so as to contract the annular portion thereof surrounding said opening into said groove, whereby said washer will be secured in said groove and form a collar projecting from said projectile body; and affixing a layer of yieldable, seal forming material to saidprojectile so as to extend across at least one face of said collar.

4. A method of making a projectile having a collar near its inner end, for use in a well casing perforating gun of the character described, comprising: forming a projectile body with an annular groove near the inner end thereof; forming a collar with an opening of smaller diameter than the portion of said projectile body adjacent said groove; dishing said collar so that the opening thereof will be increased to such size that said collar may be moved onto said body to a position wherein the inner edge thereof will coincide with said groove; flattening said collar so as to cause said inner edge thereof to rest in said groove; and fusing a layer of relatively soft metal on the inner end of said projectile so that the same will cover the inner end of said body, the front and rear faces of said collar, and the portion of said body adjacent the front face of said collar.

5. A method of making a projectile having a collar spaced from its inner end, for use in a well casing perforating. gun of the character described, comprising: forming a projectile body with an armular groove in the circumferential face thereof; forming a collar with an opening of smaller diameter than the portion of said projectile body adjacent said groove; dishing said collar so that the opening thereof will be increased to such size that said collar may be moved onto said body to a position wherein the inner edge thereof will coincide with said groove; flattening said collar so as to cause said inner edge thereof to rest in said groove; and fusing relatively soft metal on said projectile so that the same will cover a face of said collar and a portion of said body adjacent said collar.

6. A method of securing on a projectile body having a groove, a dished washer having an opening defined by an inner edge, comprising: holding the projectile body and the washer so that said inner edge and said groove will align; and producing relative movement of the inner and outer portions of said dished washer in pposite directions while restricting radial outward movement of its periphery so as to cause said inner edge thereof to enter said groove and to cause the periphery of said washer to have a predetermined external diameter.

7. A method of securing on a projectile body having a groove, a dished washer having an opening defined by an inner edge, comprising: holding the projectile body and the washer so that said inner edge and said groove will align; flattening said washer; and restraining radial expansion of the peripheral portion of said washer during flattening thereof.

WALDO S. REYNOLDS. 

